Eight vehicle accident on I-90 kills two, closes road for eight hours

The drivers of the big rigs were not injured
but a couple in a passenger car died
Photo courtesy Washington State Patrol

The Washington State Patrol (WSP) troopers investigated an eight vehicle, fatality collision Friday morning on westbound I-90 west of Snoqualmie Pass at mile post 51.

Among the vehicles involved were two semi-trucks and trailers. The driver of one of the semi-trucks, a car carrier, has been arrested for investigation of vehicular homicide. Two individuals traveling in a passenger car died at the scene.

Troopers believe the driver of the car carrier was traveling westbound and lost control before veering across all lanes of traffic and coming to rest in the roadway.  This caused a “chain reaction” type of incident that blocked the freeway for several hours.

Vehicle #1, a 1996 freightliner car carrier with a 24 year old driver from Zillah, was traveling westbound in lane one of three. The driver lost control and hit a snow bank on the right side, coming to rest across all lanes of I-90. He was later transported to Overlake Hospital but reported to have no injuries.

Vehicle #2, a 2001 Volvo 4-door with a man and woman from Ronald, were traveling westbound in lane two and struck the car carrier.

Vehicle #3, a Ford pickup, and #4, a Subaru Legacy, managed to run into the snow bank on the right side. The pickup driver was not injured but the driver of the Legacy was transported to Overlake with injuries.

The #5 vehicle, a Dodge Ram pickup, struck #2 vehicle which had already run into the car carrier. The couple in Vehicle #2 died at the scene and the driver of #5 was transported to Overlake.

Vehicle #6, a Ford pickup driven by a 50 year old driver from Ronald, managed to stop without hitting anything, but Vehicle #7, a Dodge Dakota pickup, ran into him. The Dodge rolled over, landing on its top in the roadway. The Dodge driver was injured but not taken to the hospital. The driver of the Ford was taken to Overlake.

Vehicle #8, another semi-truck and trailer, hit Vehicle #1, the car carrier. The driver was not injured.

All the vehicles were towed from the scene.

The roadway was blocked for over eight hours and ten minutes.

Five subjects in all were transported to Overlake Medical Center for non-life threatening injuries, including the driver of the car carrier. A WSP trooper who is Drug Recognition Expert (DRE) contacted the driver of the car carrier and later determined that the driver was under the influence of drugs.